On the radio, Tom Hamilton called it “brutal.”
That’s fair, but I’m kind of leaning more toward “gruesome,” “hideous,” “ghastly,” or “atrocious.”
Maybe even “amateurish,” or “unwatchable.”
It’s the Indians’ defense, and I use the word “defense” even more loosely than they play it.
Watch the Indians play defense for any length of time, and you wonder how these guys are even remotely close to the .500 mark. This might be Terry Francona’s greatest managing job ever. His players play defense like they think it’s optional.
There is no defense for the Indians’ defense.
It’s brutal, gruesome, hideous, ghastly, and atrocious.
It’s all of that, and worse — and it’s costing them any chance at all of reaching the postseason.
You win with pitching and defense. You can lose without one of the two, you will lose without both. The Indians are the worst of both worlds. They have one dependable starting pitcher, Corey Kluber, and one dependable defensive player, Michael Brantley.
The Indians have the highest error total, and lowest fielding percentage in the major leagues. They are the worst defensive team in the majors — and it’s not even close. Their 89 errors are 12 more than any other team in the American League.
The other 14 teams in the league have an average of 64 errors. The Indians have 25 more errors than that. There are three teams in the league — Baltimore, Tampa Bay and Seattle — who have just 52 errors. The Indians have 37 more errors than that.
The Indians are on a pace for 125 errors, the same number made last year by the Astros, which lost 111 games.
If the Indians reach 125 errors it will be their highest total in 11 years and second highest in 21 years. The Indians’ .979 fielding percentage would be their lowest in 21 years.
Thanks to all those errors, the Indians have given up 56 unearned runs. The average of the other 14 teams in the league is 36. The first-place Orioles have given up 22.
There’s a defensive statistic called “Defensive Runs Saved Above Average” which computes, using a variety of defensive metrics, how many runs a team’s defense has saved above zero, which is considered average. The Orioles are first in this category with 37 runs saved. The Indians are a distant last with minus 79 runs saved. The next-worst team is at minus 41.
If you dig deeper into the numbers, it’s the Indians’ infield defense that is the open wound — especially the left side of the infield.
American League teams’ third basemen are averaging 13 errors and have a .956 fielding percentage. Indians third baseman have a staggering 24 errors and a .915 fielding percentage.
AL teams’ shortstops have an average of 13 errors and a .973 fielding percentage. Indians’ shortstops have 15 errors and a .970 fielding percentage.
At first base, the AL average is seven errors and a .993 fielding percentage. The Indians are at 12 errors and a .989 fielding percentage. At catcher, the AL is at six errors and .994 and the Indians are at 12 errors and .989.
Indians pitchers are not blameless in this carnage. AL teams’ pitchers have an average of eight errors and a .953 fielding percentage. Indians pitchers: 11 errors and a .936 fielding percentage.
So the Indians are your basic defensive trainwreck. They are on a pace for 125 errors. Last year they made 98, and reached the playoffs.
How does the front office fix this? It can’t. There’s almost nothing that can be done now, with only six weeks left in the season.
The Titanic-sized gash in the side of the hull of this Indians season caused by the defense is irreparable. All General Manager Chris Antonetti and Francona can do is hope the Indians defenders stumble — something we’ve seen they are quite good at — into a few weeks of not brutal, gruesome, hideous, ghastly, or atrocious defense.
They need a streak — a month would be great, but they might have to settle for a couple of weeks — where they stop losing games because they are giving the opposing teams extra outs and extra runs because the Indians can’t catch the ball.
Or throw it.
Not to mention all the plays the Indians’ defense doesn’t make which are not counted as errors, but have the same effect, because they are plays that should result in outs, but don’t.
So until Antonetti has a chance to shop for some professional defenders in the offseason, what’s the best advice for Indians fans whenever an opposing batter puts the ball into play in this one?
Cover your eyes.